Pope Benedict XVI stressed “the inviolable dignity of the person, beginning with the unswerving protection of human life,” when he met on December 3 with a new ambassador from Costa Rica to the Holy...

In a book review headlined “De Mattei and the Council, a critical methodology which devaluates its texts,” Catholic author and sociologist Massimo Introvigne has debunked a recent book promoting the...

Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, joined 25 other religious leaders in affirming that “marriage is the permanent and faithful union...

Released Tuesday, Dec. 14

Members of the Legion of Christ and its associated lay movement, Regnum Christi, will refer to Father Marcial Maciel as their “founder” or as “Father Maciel,” and not as “our father,” according to a...

Bishop George Murry, the Jesuit bishop of Youngstown, emphasized in a recent diocesan newspaper column that “Pope Benedict neither proposed any change to the teaching of the Church on the immorality...

At his weekly public audience on December 15, Pope Benedict XVI spoke about St. Veronica Giuliani (1660- 1727), saying that the profound mystical experiences of the Italian Poor Clare nun made her a...

Joined by other non-Muslim religious leaders, Pakistani bishops are urging Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to prosecute the imam who offered to pay 500,000 rupees ($5,900) to anyone who kills Asia...

Radical Islamic groups in Pakistan are planning a mass protest on December 24 to urge the nation’s government not to release Asia Bibi from prison or to change the nation’s anti-blasphemy law. Bibi,...

Meeting on December 17 with a new ambassador from Italy to the Holy See, Pope Benedict XVI said that a proper appreciation of religious freedom and of Italy’s Christian heritage are essential to the...

Reacting to a European court decision that held that the Irish laws violated the human rights of a woman seeking abortion, some Irish politicians have called for new legislation broadening access to...

The son of the Duke of Kent—who forfeited his place in the line of succession to the British crown when he entered the Catholic Church—has captured attention with an article in First Things magazine...

At his Angelus audience on the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Pope Benedict XVI spoke about the example set by St. Joseph, who “announced the prodigies of the Lord, bearing witness to Mary's virginity and...

The American Life League (ALL) has issued a report linking one of the nation’s leading Catholic hospital chains with sterilization. Catholic Healthcare West (CHW) is the parent company of St. Joseph...

Released Wednesday, Dec. 22

Less than a week after the Holy See denounced the Chinese government’s repressive control of Church affairs, the State Administration for Religious Affairs has blasted the Vatican for its “attack on...

The Vatican has pulled back from participation in an international task force on the Holocaust, because of criticism of the role played by Pope Pius XII, according to an American diplomat’s account,...

Christian pilgrims who travel to Bethlehem to celebrate Christmas this year may notice that fewer tourist items in the markets of the town show distinctively Christian themes, and even images of the...

The star of Bethlehem mentioned in St. Matthew’s Gospel may have been a conjunction of the planet Jupiter and Regulus, a star in the constellation of Leo, according to Mark Thompson, a fellow of the...

“You are my son, this day I have begotten you”-- with this passage from Psalm 2 the Church begins the liturgy of this holy night. She knows that this passage originally formed part of the coronation...

Pope Benedict XVI hosted a Sunday dinner on December 26 for about 250 people who would ordinarily have been served at the soup kitchens operated by the Missionaries of Charity in Rome. More than 100...

David King, Alberta’s former education minister, has launched a campaign to abolish the province’s system of separate publicly-funded Catholic schools. King supports the merger of public schools and...

Toon Osaer, the spokesman for Cardinal Godfried Danneels, says that the “vast majority of people” are “quite scandalized” by Archbishop André-Joseph Léonard’s December 22 testimony on clerical abuse...

On January 1, the Church will commemorate the 44th World Day of Peace. In his message for the 1st World Day of Peace, Pope Paul VI wrote, “We address Ourselves to all men of good will to exhort them...